Jimmy Akingbola & Justin Calen-Chenn Developing Scripted Drama Inspired By Akingbola’s Doc ‘Handle With Care
Bel-Air star Jimmy Akingbola is launching his next major creative chapter with a scripted drama based on his powerful documentary Handle With Care (Peacock/ITV). Partnering with Bel-Air writer Justin Calen-Chenn, the pair are developing a gritty, emotionally charged series described as Ozark meets Shameless—a raw, character-driven exploration of identity, survival, and healing.
The drama draws inspiration from Akingbola’s personal journey, as detailed in Handle With Care, which chronicles his experience growing up in the UK foster care system and the emotional toll of growing up without a stable sense of home or belonging. The series will be set in New Jersey and will fictionalize those experiences, weaving them into a compelling narrative about family, fractured identity, crime and generational trauma.
The cast includes Akingbola, Alona Tal, Karrueche Tran, Cooper Barnes, Sofi Manassyan, Andrey Ivchenko, Michael Williams, Chance Mamo, and Taylor Nevels.
“This is the most personal work I’ve ever done,” Akingbola said. “Handle With Care opened a door for me. Now, I want to walk through it—this time with a fictional story that captures all the heart, the hardship, and the humanity of what it means to survive and find yourself.”
Calen-Chenn also draws on his own experiences being street adopted by a Black and Mexican family and getting involved with the criminal life as his first career before shifting to Hollywood. Besides Bel-Air, he has set up Game After Game, a sports-crime drama with Justin Simien’s Culture Machine, Paramount TV (now CBS Studios), and NBA legend Carmelo Anthony and is set to be Head Writer of Taiwan Fade, a crime drama with Sung Kang (Fast & Furious franchise) set to star and executive produce alongside Brian Yang (Linsanity) and Asia-based studio, Rise Entertainment Group.
Jimmy and Justin first crossed paths on Bel-Air, where Calen-Chenn was instrumental in crafting some of the key storylines for Geoffrey, Akingbola’s character. Their creative chemistry evolved into a deeper collaboration as Handle With Care sparked the idea of developing something bigger together.
Currently in development, the series explores emotional survival through a fictional protagonist shaped by childhood instability, familial fractures, and a search for identity within complex social systems. Blending the grounded dysfunction of Shameless with the escalating tension and personal stakes of Ozark, the show aims to break new ground in prestige drama.
Akingbola is currently wrapping his run as Geoffrey in the fourth and final season of Peacock’s Bel-Air, executive produced by Will Smith through Westbrook Studios. With the series concluding, Handle With Care marks a timely next chapter for the actor and producer, who also recently appeared in The Tower (ITV/BritBox), Ted Lasso (Apple TV+), and In The Long Run (Netflix).
In addition to his scripted ventures, Akingbola is also the host of Sorry, I Didn’t Know (ITV), the UK’s only comedy panel show about Black history created by showrunner Fraser Ayres. Produced by Triforce Productions, the show has become a standout format in British television. Akingbola and Triforce Productions are currently in the process of selling Sorry, I Didn’t Know to the U.S. market, where it is generating strong interest from buyers drawn to its unique blend of comedy, culture, and historical insight.